Bad luck again: Camelot UK hit with £3.15m fine for mobile app failings
To add to its spell of recent bad luck, departing National Lottery operator Camelot UK was whacked with a £3.15m fine by the gambling watchdog this morning for failures linked to its mobile app.
Errors included failing to inform up to 20,000 players that their winning draw-based ticket was a non-winner, accidentally charging players for double tickets, as well as sending out marketing messages to app users who had either self-excluded or had been identified by the gambling giant as showing signs of addiction.
The Gambling Commission fined Flutter Entertainment’s Sky Vegas a hefty £1.2m earlier this month after it sent free casino “spins” to recovering addicts. However, all of Camelot’s fine will notably be paid back into good causes.
Whilst the commission chief exec Andrew Rhodes said he was “reassured that Camelot has taken steps to make sure that their National Lottery app is fit for purpose”, he said that the fine “reinforces that any operator failing to comply with their licence requirements will be investigated by the Commission and we will not hesitate to issue fines if requirements are breached.”
The news comes just a week after the British company lost its status as the preferred candidate for the National Lottery contract to Czech company Allwyn. A final decision is expected at the end of this year, with the new contract starting in 2024.